Slowly, then all at once
by nightnoxx
Summary: Dramione one-shot: It had been when he saw her that day in the hallway that it had hit him, all at once. When he didn't know when or if he would ever see her again and he realized that it broke his heart if he wouldn't.


**A.N: This was a story that suddenly came to me and I had to write it. Don't worry I am still writing on "The New Law", but this had to be written.  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this world, they belong to J.K Rowling, and I am just having some fun with it.  
_**

There was a time when Draco Malfoy would have probably punched you in the face if you would have told him that he would one day fall in love with Hermione Granger. When he was in his sixth year at Hogwarts, he had received a task from Voldemort, a very hard task. He was to kill Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. Draco had always thought the man to be a fool and a strange man, but he had respect for him and he knew that he was a powerful wizard. Draco was also given the task to fix the vanishing cabinet that was in the room of requirements, the counterpart being located in the shop Borgin and Burks, in Knockturn Ally, so that death eaters would be able to enter the castle undetected. It was a hard task and it was during this time that he had gotten to know Hermione.  
_

"What are you doing here Granger?" Draco asked as he pinned Hermione to the wall. He was frustrated and angry and he was losing his mind. He was in Moaning Myrtles bathroom and he was not prepared for anyone to walk in on him, let alone having it be Hermione bloody Granger.  
"I'm so sorry, I…I didn't know anyone was in here…" she stammered. It was then that Draco noticed the tear stains on her face. She had come here looking for solitude, just as he had done. He let her go, and she started to walk out of the bathroom.  
"Granger…" she turned and looked at him.  
"I'm sorry," he said quietly sounding defeated before he walked past her out of the bathroom letting her have it for herself. He didn't know why he had apologized. He had been raised to treat people like her as inferior to him; she was after all a mudblood. She had muggle parents and he was supposed to treat her like she was nothing, like dirt beneath his shoe. To be fair he had done that previously, he had been awful to her and he couldn't for the life of him understand why he had apologized, after all a Malfoy didn't apologize to anyone who was beneath him. A Malfoy barely apologized to someone of their own rank.

Draco had decided later, that it was only because he had been taken aback by the fact that she had been crying, but that was later, when he had taken time to think it over and rationalize it. In the moment though, he knew that it had been because he felt bad for her, because she looked lost and he thought she looked almost the same as he felt. Somewhere deep inside him, he knew that it was that moment that changed things. That was the moment he started to fall.  
_

Draco really did fall; he fell slowly and then all at once. It had snuck up on him and one day he suddenly knew. After that first encounter he started to notice her. He found himself unconsciously searching for her when he walked into the great hall for meals. When he walked into a class he knew they shared. He looked for her in the hallways, not even realizing that he was looking for her and having no idea why.  
_

"Having trouble there Granger" Draco asked smirking at Hermione as she was trying to reach a book on a tall shelf at the library.  
"Oh, sod off Malfoy," she told him annoyed. Draco had come across her when he was looking for a book that might help him with fixing the vanishing cabinet. It was proving to be a very hard task and it required some advanced magic.  
"Granger, you're a witch, why on earth are not just using magic to get that book down?" Draco asked after watching her struggle for a while longer. Hermione actually looked taken aback.  
"Honestly, Malfoy, I have no idea…I guess I just don't automatically think of that since I was raised as a muggle and didn't know about magic for a long time. I think it's just a habit to do things the muggle way," she told him after a moment of thought.  
"And I have no idea why I just told you that…nor do I know why on earth you're even talking to me," she continued. Draco looked her in the eye for a moment before he replied.  
"Honestly, I don't know," he said and then he walked away because there was something in her eyes and it made him feel something deep down and it was unfamiliar and he needed to not think about it.

They met at the library quite often after that. They never said anything, just passed by each other between the isles of books or walked past a table the other was sitting at.  
_

It was getting late, it was almost curfew and once again Draco was in Moaning Myrtles bathroom. He had talked to her for bit, but she had left to do Merlin knows what after a while. Draco was feeling helpless. He wasn't getting anywhere with the cabinet. He had done some really bad things. The Gryffindor girl Katie, or whatever her name was, had been hurt and it wasn't meant to happen, she wasn't supposed to touch the necklace. It was too late now; she was in the hospital wing recovering. At least she would be okay. Draco was feeling so torn apart, he wanted out. He couldn't handle things anymore and he let the tears fall from his eyes. He couldn't breathe. He took off his jumper, loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt. It helped a little. He knew that he probably looked like a complete mess, but he didn't care. Besides, he was alone here.

He didn't notice, however, that someone had opened the door and seen him in his distress and was standing quietly, watching him.

Draco had sunken down to the floor against one of the walls. He was exhausted and the tears didn't seem to want to stop so they were just quietly rolling down his cheeks. He looked up and there she was, walking towards him. She was a little blurry from the tears, but he knew it was her. She came and sat next to him. She didn't say a word, she just sat there until the tears finally stopped and he was leaning his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes and sighed. He needed to go to bed soon. He needed to sleep so he could keep working on this damn cabinet.

"Thank you," Draco said as he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Hermione.  
"For what?" she asked him.  
"For being here…you didn't have to do that, but I appreciate it," he told her.  
"You're welcome," she said. They sat like that for a while, no one saying anything, just looking at each other; it was a strangely intimate thing and things changed for the both of them that day.  
_

In the months to follow they would meet at the library in a faraway corner where no one could see them sitting together at a table reading books or doing homework. Sometimes they would meet at Moaning Myrtles bathroom when things were especially rough for Malfoy. He didn't have to say that he would be there, she could tell and they would go there and sit in silence. Sometimes he would cry because of the hopelessness of it all and that was okay. He knew that she wasn't judging him. She probably knew that he was up to something bad as well. They didn't call her the brightest witch of their age for nothing. She simply chose to not judge him for it.  
_

It was getting close to the end of the school year and the vanishing cabinet was almost ready. Draco knew what he had to do next and he was dreading it. He didn't want to do it, but he knew that it was the only way to protect his family. He had no choice.

"Granger," Draco said one day when they were sat in the bathroom. It was only a few days left until he had to do it and he was feeling terrible.  
"Yes, Malfoy?" Hermione inquired. She turned her head and looked at Draco who was looking at her with a very serious expression.  
"I have to do something really bad," he told her.  
"I think you already suspect as much and I can't understand why you still choose to spend time with me, but I do know that I like it very much and I don't ever want it to stop." He continued.  
"I don't think you will like me very much after you find out what I did though."  
"Malfoy, I don't know what this is, the thing that we have. I know that I care about you, I feel sad when you are sad and I want to take it away. I also know that what you have to do is probably not something you want to do and I am guessing that the reason why you're doing it has something to do with your family" Hermione stated. Draco felt his heart fill with warmth by her words. He hated that he could never be good enough to deserve her. She was all light and he was so dark compared to her.

"When?" she asked simply.  
"Two days," he told her and then they didn't say anything else. They just sat there until they had to go to bed.

The next two days Draco tried to spend as much time with Hermione as possible. He didn't know when he would see her after so he needed to see her as much as he could. They talked; they talked about school, about their favourite classes, about simple things like their favourite colours and their favourite books. And Draco couldn't help but notice how there was a few green specks in her brown eyes if you looked closely enough. How she chewed her lip when she was concentrating about something and he couldn't help but notice how his stomach fluttered when she looked him in the eyes.  
_

It was time, he was going to go into the room of requirements and he was going to let the death eaters into the castle. He was going to kill Dumbledore. He was terrified.

He passed her in the hall on the way to the room of requirements; she was with Weasley which meant that Draco should really not interact with her in any way. She froze when she saw him as did he when her saw her. She was leaning against the wall next to Weasley who was looking out the window and they were talking quietly with each other.

Draco couldn't help himself, he didn't care that Weasley was there, he didn't know when he would see her again and he had to do something. He walked up to her, put his hands on the wall on both sides of her head and stared deep into her eyes and she stared back at him.  
"Granger," Draco muttered sounding so beaten up that it was entirely heart breaking.  
"I know, Draco, I know," she assured him her voice thick, tears threatening to spill. Draco hung his head for a moment, not able to look at her knowing what he was about to do.  
"It's okay. I understand and it's okay," she told him.

He looked up again and she was so beautiful. He took her face in his hands and he kissed her. It was a kiss full of emotion, a kiss conveying everything he could not say. Her lips were soft and warm and it gave him strength to go on. They broke apart and Draco looked at her one last time before he walked away, not looking back as he heard Weasley stuttering confused questions at Hermione.

It had been when he saw her that day in the hallway that it had hit him, all at once, that he was in love with Hermione Granger. When he didn't know when or if he would ever see her again and he realized that it broke his heart if he wouldn't.  
_

Draco was having a hard time falling asleep. After the war it had been hard to go back to a normal life, things had been very tough and sometimes he would forget that it was all over and wake up sweaty and tangled up in his sheets from nightmares. Suddenly he felt arms wrap around him and he looked down at his wife who stretched up to give him a comforting kiss. She was half asleep, her hair tangled and messy and she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  
"I love you Hermione Malfoy," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head that was now resting on his chest.

Yes, there was a time when Draco Malfoy would have probably punched you in the face if you would have told him that he would one day fall in love with Hermione Granger. And he'd probably hex you into oblivion if you told him he would marry her. But things don't always turn out how you think they will, and Draco Malfoy was bloody happy that it didn't.  
_

 **I hope you enjoyed this one-shot. Let me know your thoughts in the reviews.  
Lots of love  
\- Nightnoxx**


End file.
